3 Vietnamese, 1 Guinean jailed 6 years for wildlife trafficking in Nigeria

<p>The arrest and conviction of these four suspects is the product of the first major intelligence-led undercover investigation into two organised crime networks</p>, <span>3 Vietnamese, 1 Guinean jailed 6 years for wildlife trafficking in Nigeria.</span>, <h2>A Federal High Court in Lagos has handed down a six-year jail term to each of the four foreigners accused of trafficking 7.1 tonnes of pangolin scales and 850 kgs of ivory in Nigeria.</h2>, <p>The convicts, three Vietnamese and one Guinean national were found guilty at the end of the trial, but the judge gave them an option of payment of fines in lieu of imprisonment.</p>, <p>The four accused - Phan Viet Chi, Phan Hong Quan, Duong Van Thang, and Mory Berrette - were arrested by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on May 12, 2022, following a tip-off by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC).</p>, <p>They were identified as high-ranking members of a major organised crime group involved in the trafficking of ivory and pangolin scales from Nigeria and rhino horn and lion bones from Mozambique and South Africa to Vietnam.</p>, <p>The Vietnamese accused were in Nigeria actively sourcing pangolin scales and are the first Vietnamese arrested for wildlife trafficking in Nigeria.</p>, <p>Since their arrest back in 2022, the convicts have remained in the custody of the Nigerian authorities. Their detention for over a year prior to the trial demonstrated the severity of the charges.</p>, <p>The defendants were arraigned by the NCS on July 20, 2022, for alleged illegal possession, dealing in, assembling, storing, smuggling and trading in pangolin scale and elephant’s ivory. The trial started in November 2022 and concluded this week.</p>, <p>The four defendants applied to change their pleas from ‘Not Guilty’ to ‘Guilty’ via a plea bargain arrangement. On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, the prosecution filed the terms of the plea bargain agreement and the defendants pleaded guilty to each of the four counts.</p>, <p>“The judge’s decision recognises wildlife crime as serious organ